32. Medical Neglect: Connell Watkins & Sarah Mitchell

This week we cover cases of medical neglect. Rachel starts off with the case of Connell Watkins, an unlicensed psychotherapist, who, along with her team, was responsible for the death of Candace Newmaker. Connell wrapped Candace in a blanket and pillows, her team put their combined weight on her to simulate contracts as a part of re-birthing therapy. After an hour, Candace was dead. Nathalie then tells the story of Sarah Mitchell. Sarah and her husband, Travis, were members of the Followers of Christ Church. The FCC believed people could only be healed through faith and did not believe in modern medicine. Sarah was pregnant and went into labor two months before her due date. Even though both of the babies were experiencing difficulty breathing, no one called 911. One of the babies died, resulting in Sarah and Travis’s arrest. The two plead guilty to negligent homicide and criminal mistreatment. Rachel’s Sources Harlow Study Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrNBEhzjg8I https://www.psychologicalscience.org/publications/observer/obsonline/harlows-classic-studies-revealed-the-importance-of-maternal-contact.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Harlow https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1174742/ https://web.archive.org/web/20090616035739/http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0%2C1299%2CDRMN_15_691211%2C00.html https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=127067&page=1 https://www.ratbags.com/rsoles/comment/candace.htm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candace_Newmaker Nathalie's Sources: https://www.oregonlive.com/clackamascounty/2018/07/faith-healing_parents_plead_to.html https://www.clackamas.us/news/2018-07-09/travis-mitchell-and-sarah-mitchell-plead-guilty https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2018/07/10/a-religious-oregon-couple-didnt-get-medical-care-for-their-newborn-the-child-died-and-now-theyre-going-to-prison/ https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/apxcouple-who-prayed-for-healing-plead-guilty-in-baby-s-death/ https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/tasneemnashrulla/religious-parents-refuse-medical-care-baby-dies-oregon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faith_healing